New
York, NY; October 30, 2014 – New American Library, a division of
Penguin Random House, announced today that it will publish in hardcover
the first
book in a new contemporary series from #1 New York Times bestselling author J.R. Ward on July 28, 2015.

Launching
with a novel of the same name, The Bourbon Kings series will introduce
readers to the Bradfords, a wealthy, aristocratic family in Kentucky who
made their
money from bourbon.

The
books have already been optioned for television by Endemol Studios, the
entertainment and production company behind the international hit TV
series
Big Brother, Deal or No Deal, Wipeout, Hell On Wheels,
The Fall and Peaky Blinders, among others.

Set
in the heart of bourbon and horse country, The Bourbon Kings marks a
departure for Ward who hasn’t written extensively about Kentucky, though
she lives in The Bluegrass State and has deep ties to the surrounding
community.

Ward
said: “The Bourbon Kings are just like my Black Dagger Brotherhood
vampires, flawed heroes for strong women who live and love in a vivid,
ever-changing
world of passion and excitement. Readers can expect the same big
emotions, epic storylines, and soul-deep love stories in these books—as
well as those signature, OMG,
I have to know what happens NEXT! kind of endings.”

With
more than 15 million of her novels in print worldwide, Ward is an
international bestselling author best known for her phenomenally popular
paranormal
Black Dagger Brotherhood series about a group of warrior vampires. Dark Lover,
the first book in the series, was published in 2005, and reader
reaction was immediate. Just eighteen months later, the fourth book in
the series,
Lover Revealed, hit the New York Times bestseller list. Since then, Ward’s novels have held the #1 spot on the
New York Times hardcover, mass market, eBook, and combined print/eBook fiction bestseller lists and have debuted in the Top Five on the
USA Today bestseller list. Ward and her books have been featured in USA Today,
Entertainment Weekly, The Boston Globe and The New York Times.

“The
Bourbon Kings has all the hallmarks of Ward’s hugely successful Black
Dagger Brotherhood books—fascinating characters, compelling interwoven
plotlines, passionate love stories—while also feeling completely
fresh. I’m thrilled to be starting a new series with the extremely
talented J.R. Ward and am confident that readers will also find this one
irresistibly addictive,” said NAL’s Senior Vice President
and Publisher Kara Welsh.

The
Bourbon Kings series will follow the Bradfords, those who work for them
on their estate, Easterly, and several other wealthy Southern families
involved in Kentucky’s bourbon industry.

About the Author

J.R. Ward is a #1
New York Times bestselling author with more than 15 million novels in print published in 25 different countries around the world. Wardis a graduate of Smith College who currentlylives
in Kentucky. Before turning to writing full time, she worked as a
lawyer in Boston and also spent many years working as Chief of Staff for
one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation.
Visit her popular website and fan community at www.jrward.com
and facebook.com/JRWardBooks.